


What Once Was

by magebae



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M, a whole lotta spoilers, flayn and seteth are manakete saints here, flayn's bizarre adventure, this might as well be a roadtrip fic with how flayn travels
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-11
Updated: 2019-08-19
Packaged: 2020-08-19 07:24:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,011
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20205940
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/magebae/pseuds/magebae
Summary: Flayn decides to enter an extended sleep in order to regain her energy after the war. However, she sleeps for a lot longer than she expected and finds herself in a completely different Fodlan. With everyone she knew long dead, and the only immortals missing, Flayn finds herself going on a journey to find a mysterious historian who's information on the past is too accurate to be a coincidence.Major Spoilers for GD route and Flayn's backstory.





	1. Prologue: Good Night

“Thank you for helping me get here! I know there isn’t as big of a threat as there used to be, but I wanted some safety and company.” Flayn wasn’t sure what to say. What could one say to their loved ones before entering a decades long slumber?

“Of course we came…” Byleth responded. The soon to be queen had made it clear when Flayn first brought up the idea that she would be coming along. She was still surprised at Flayn’s decision to rest for so long, but she knew that it was something all people of their kind did. Even she might choose to do so one day. She was still new to this whole immortal thing. No matter how much time Seteth and Flayn put into explaining it, she’d always be confused.

“Well I knew Father would come, but not you Byleth...” Flayn said before her last word descended into a yawn. 

“You’re tired. I would like a moment to speak with Flayn,” Seteth stated, giving Byleth a look that explained it all.

“Of course… I’ll make sure to come back when you wake up, Flayn,” Byleth said as she went to leave the two be. 

Flayn waved and shouted a goodbye as the woman left. Once Byleth had gone, there was a moment of silence as Flayn and Seteth stared at each other, trying to come up with something to say.

“I had something planned to tell you, but it feels stupid now. Oh goddess, I’m getting emotional now!” Flayn tried to stay calm but she still broke out into tears. She had made the choice to sleep, but she was still sad that she’d be leaving everyone behind.

Seteth went to hug his daughter, letting the girl cry onto his chest. He let himself ease up and pet her hair in an attempt to reassure her. This continued for a while as Flayn continued to squeeze tightly, not wanting to let him go. But she knew she needed to do this. She had grown tired over the past few months since the war ended. She wouldn’t be able to go on for much longer without letting her body recharge. She wished Seteth could join her, but he had other business to attend to with the monastery. 

“I’ll still be here when you get back. I will never leave you alone,” he said, trying his best to calm her down. The girl had tired herself out in her emotional state, starting to slump as she continued trying to hold onto Seteth. But her body needed to rest. She couldn’t stay conscious for much longer. 

Seteth picked Flayn up and brought her to an area of the land that was isolated and hidden. Flayn had said she wanted to rest where her mother was buried. She wanted to be with her mother even if it was just physically. While Flayn couldn’t sleep in the cemetery itself, she still found a place nearby that seemed perfect. She had even set up a cozy spot to lay in.

When he got there, he laid Flayn down on the sand. He brushed the hair out of the barely awake girl’s face. There was no blanket or pillow as the girl would transform back into her manakete form in her sleep. 

“Can you tell me a story?” Flayn yawned out. She stretched out, letting herself get comfy despite the surface she was laying on. Seteth smiled at his daughter, knowing it would be long before he saw her again. The girl looked up at him with puppy dog eyes, begging for one last story before her sleep. 

“Which one?”

“The one about you and Mother.” 

“Of course.”


	2. Enjoy Your Stay At The Rhodos Coast

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Flayn wakes up and is overwhelmed with what she finds.

“Mmmnth...”

She woke up to sand in her mouth. She had to spit it out in her just awaking state. It was most terrible as the woman still felt sleepy. And yet, her body had decided to wake up, telling her brain that it was time to go. It took her a while to even realize she had reverted back to her human form. The inner workings of a manakete truly were a mystery. 

Her legs refused to stand up, so the woman sat up, allowing herself to stretch her arms toward the sky. She took in her close surroundings. The sand looked the same and yet was different. The sky was sunny and cloudless, allowing Flayn to deduce that it was indeed the summer season. It was then that she became aware of how small her clothing felt as she continued to stretch. This was expected, of course, but she was still taken aback by just how much she’d grown. Despite wearing something more loose and longer, she had still managed to outgrow her clothing. 

“Well,” she spoke allowed, trying to get a sense of her voice, and to get used to speaking again. It was less childish then she remembered. She continued, “Father will have a new set of clothes for me... Oh! Father is probably looking for me!” 

The girl pushed her body upwards, trying to stand. Her eagerness to reach her father brought enough energy back to her body. She found herself running out of the hidden cave, a skip in her run as she came out. But as she got closer to the water, things started to become unusual and unfamiliar.

She reached the ocean, mindlessly sticking a foot into the water. She jumped a bit, unused to the wet coldness after so much time. It wasn’t until she settled down that she realized all the people staring at her. Everything about them was… strange. Their clothing was nothing like she had seen before. Some were in bathing suits that did not cover the stomach. Others were dressed in what appeared to be shorter pants. She was no stranger to beach clothing, but this was more open compared to what she was used to. But she was more concerned with why they were dressed like that here of all places. This was a cemetery, not a proper beach. And yet, there were entire families and groups of friends gathered in groups, having fun and seemingly uncaring of the weight of the area. 

Everything felt like it was falling apart. Why were they disrespecting the land? The horror on her face was apparent as she thought about her mother’s resting place being disturbed by these people. Oh goddess, what had happened?

“Miss, are you okay?” A bystander says to her. The woman is dressed in alarming red. She looks concerned for the woman, but Flayn can not pay any mind to it in her state.

“What is going on here? This isn’t a place of merriment! People are buried here and you all are just... just doing whatever you want!” She yells back, giving the now growing crowd accusatory looks.

“Listen, miss. If you do not leave now I will be forced to get the security guards to escort you off the premises.”

“Security guards? Premises?” Flayn frantically questioned.

“Please leave now,” the woman says more forcefully this time. 

Flayn doesn’t know how to feel. She wants to fight them all, but her more reasonable side says to just leave. So she runs. Runs past the people looking at her as if she were a mad woman. She knows she’s not crazy and that everything has gone horribly wrong. People try to yell at her or stop her but she continues on running until she’s at a wooden stairway. Houses. They’ve built houses by the once sacred coast. There’s people who look to be wealthy wondering the place, their horses attached to carriages parked on the sides of roads. Roads made of a material Flayn is unfamiliar with. 

She keeps rushing past numerous people, shocked at what she sees. There’s businesses and restaurants everywhere. A tourist town. They turned the cemetery into a fucking tourist town. She made herself angry thinking about them taking the graves out and leaving them where anyone could desecrate them. Her mother! Did they throw her body out to sea? Buried her in an unmarked grave? 

By now, Flayn has attracted a lot of attention from bystanders, causing her to panic even further. Everything is a blur as she tries to get out of there. Where is her father? Where is Byleth? They were supposed to be there when she woke up. Did these people hurt them? She can’t calm herself down to properly take in everything. That is until she runs out of energy to run. Instead of stopping, however, she trips. The crash is hard and she lets out more tears. The woman curls up, the clothing becoming even more restrictive as she tries to curl away from the world. She can feel numerous eyes looking at her, probably ready to hurt her, too. She waits for the worst until she finally feels a hand nudge her.

“Are you okay? You’ve given everyone a great shock,” a man says, the look on his face concerned. 

Flayn can’t respond. Instead, she hides her face even further. She doesn’t want to hear the truth. She’d rather fall into the ground and cease existing. There can’t be a positive explanation for what is going on. 

“I… I don’t know who you are, but you should probably get going. The guards are probably coming for you,” the man tells her. Flayn goes to move, but her body doesn’t have the energy to get up. Instead, she reaches a hand out, silently asking the man to help her. He does, but she soon regrets it as she becomes hyper aware of just how many people are staring at her. She has to hide her face again as she hides her embarrassment. 

She wants to continue crying, but she knows she can’t. Doing the best she can, she pulls herself together and thanks the man for his help before walking off. People try to stop her but she pushes past them, knowing that the only person who can help her right now is herself. She continues walking for what seems like an eternity, taking in the new Rhodos Coast. There’s development beyond what people could have imagined years ago. She wonders how long she’s been asleep.

Flayn is hit with a whole new wave of confusion when she comes across a monument. There’s a large plate inscribed with what looks like a lot of information. But the thing that catches her off is a statue of what looks like… herself? It wasn’t completely accurate, but the features that pointed toward her visage were enough to unsettle her. The statue was of her wearing a flowing gown looking out to the ocean. She went up and stared at it for a few minutes before turning toward the plate. It read,

“The Lady of Rhodos Coast. It is believed that many years ago a saint traveled to the Coast to enter a long slumber. Whether this is true or merely a story of folklore is unknown, but no trace of the woman has ever been found. Many believe she watched over the cemetery that was once on the land, and so the statue exists as a means of keeping her spirit at peace.”

Flayn felt anger fill her at what she read. So the cemetery was removed? They really had ruined the place for their own amusement. She couldn’t help but to ball her hands into fists as her mind played out the selfishness that led to the decision. Even more so, they thought a statue could make up for it. She wanted to tear it down to show that she wasn’t “at peace” with what they did. 

But her anger is paused as she looks at the plate again. It says that the statue was built in the year 1385. Her eyes widened as she slumped to the ground again. She couldn’t have slept that long. It wasn’t supposed to be that long of a rest. Someone should’ve woken her up. She should’ve woken herself up long ago. What year was it now? Had it been even more than 200 years? These questions caused Flayn to freeze as her mind could no longer handle the shock of what she was going through.


	3. The Years Keep Coming

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Flayn is aided by two siblings who fill her in on what has happened while she slept.

She doesn’t know how long she spent huddled on the floor. She can hear people walking past and talking about her. If Flayn weren’t so scared, she would continue to rampage on. These people were so ignorant. They knew nothing of what this place once was. All that remained was a statue and a paragraph. If she weren’t so distraught, maybe she would have felt more forgiving, but at that moment she felt lost. Seteth should’ve been here for her. She thought about all the things these humans could have done to him to keep him away.

After what felt like forever for Flayn, two figures walked straight up to the woman. She assumed it was the “security guards” that the woman mentioned beforehand. But instead, it was the man from before who had helped her with a woman. The two looked worried for her, but she couldn’t care to talk to them. Instead, she buried her face into her hands, letting herself be consumed by another wave of sadness. 

“You… You shouldn’t stay here,” the man managed to get out. He seemed unable to decide how to approach her. The woman, however, was different.

“Get up, sugar. Who knows what kinds of things have been on that floor.”

Flayn felt herself get brought up by the woman as she wrapped Flayn in a hug. Normally, she wouldn’t be so open to strangers, but she was too tired to fight back. In fact, she practically fell asleep in the woman’s arms. Despite her efforts, Flayn found herself entering another sleep.

~~~~

When she woke up, she was in a bed. The fabric was soft making Flayn not want to get up. For a minute, it was as if this had all been a bad dream. That she had never even began her long sleep. But no, she soon realized she didn’t recognize the room. It looked to be a simple room in an inn. She’d been in rooms like it before during the war. However, this room had things Flayn had never seen. For starters, the light source seemed to not be made of fire. At first she had thought that maybe it was a new type of magic, but as she got up and walked over, she realized it was contained in a glass. There seemed to not even be any fire involved! But before she could inspect further, she noticed her image in the mirror. 

She walked toward it, noticing just how much she has changed. The most notable change was her hair. It hadn’t gone through any drastic color change, but it had grown so long. At some point the braids had fallen out of her hair, leaving the strands to go wherever they pleased. She felt embarrassed looking at how unkempt she looked. No wonder people had stared at her so strangely. Other than her hair, she noticed how tall she had become. Flayn had expected some growth, but not this much. She had to be around 6 feet now! That was normal for people of her kind, but it was still strange seeing herself this way. Not only had she become tall, but she had developed in other areas. Flayn didn’t seem to care for this other than to note that she’d need to buy some new clothing. 

Flayn’s thoughts were stopped immediately as a whiff of cooked fish hit her nose. Tilapia. It was only then that she her hunger hit her, causing the woman to grip her stomach. She realized that she hadn’t eaten in years. That was when the door opened, revealing the woman from before. Flayn began to take in the other as she noticed the other’s brown, curly hair and tan skin. She was plump, walking with a skip in her stride. Something about her gave off a warmth that felt comforting. 

“Oh! You’re awake! Good thing ‘cause I got ya dinner!” she exclaimed, excited. Flayn just stared at the woman, trying to come up with something to say.

“Thank you,” she quietly let out, hoping it would suffice for now. The other didn’t seem annoyed as she just brought Flayn back to the bed and handed her the plate. Flayn couldn’t control herself and gobbled the fish up, forgetting to even use utensils. She could hear the woman giggling, but she didn’t pay any mind to it. 

“You’re a strange one aren’t ya. My brother said your green hair meant you’re special, and it seems like he’s right. It’s definitely not a common color in these parts,” she said, whether she cared about Flayn hearing or not.

“My name is Flayn,” she said as she licked her fingers, having finished the fish off quickly. Her mouth felt hot as she realized that the fish hadn’t even cooled off. 

“Well that’s a swell name! My name’s Lysithea-” 

“What?” Flayn yelled out, the name bringing back memories.

“Nothing special! I was named after that Almyran queen who up and disappeared with her husband who knows how long,” Lysithea explained. Flayn settled back down as she realized Lysithea and Claude was probably dead by this point. 

“Disappeared?” 

“You don’t know the tale? He found a cure for her and they just went off,” is all Lysithea said before continuing with, “pretty romantic ain’t it?”

“I-I guess,” Flayn responded. She became even more depressed as she realized that a lot of her friends from back then were probably dead considering it’s been at least 200 years since then. 

“Wait, what year is it?” Flayn asked. She put the plate back on the bed before Lysithea quickly picked it up. 

“It’s 1403! Why? Ya just woke up or something?” 

“She did,” said a man from the door, quickly revealing to be that man. He was similar in appearance to Lysithea with a large beard. 

“You helped me, too. But… how do you know that?” Flayn asked suprised.

“My name is Bartholomew, but you can call me Bart. I’m a scholar in the field of history, more specifically of the United Provinces of Fodlan-” he started to explain.

Flayn’s eyes widened at that last part. Bart could tell she was confused and quickly began to explain as he came closer, sitting next to the woman. Lysithea took a seat on Flayn’s other side, the two siblings offering her support as she listened. 

“I know who you are. You’re Flayn from the Second War of the Eagle and Lion. You were a dancer during those times. Your presence is well recorded in the history books, as well as your beyond human nature.”

“You mean everyone knows…” Flayn began, shocked that their manakete identities had been figured out.

“Not exactly,” Bart cut in, “You see, there’s a lot of speculation concerning who you and the other staff of the church were. You all were obviously not human, but it’s a largely discussed topic on whether you were angels or demons or even some type of uncorrupted beasts!” Bart became more excited as he finished.

“Well, we aren’t any of those… technically. We’re…” Flayne hesitated to tell the truth before realizing that it didn’t matter anymore. “We were manaketes. And saints! It’s hard to explain…” 

“Really! Fascinating!” Bart proclaimed, satisfied with the answer.

“Don’t worry about him. He feels too much guilt to tell everyone your personal business. No one would believe him if he ratted you out anyway.” Lysithea popped in. She had been quiet as Bart talked as she held little interest in these discussions.

“Then my theory was right! You were sleeping, were you not? I assumed such a powerful creature as yourself would need the rest. Well, a lot of things have changed since you’ve been awake,” Bart said, a look of pride on his face.

“Like the provinces thing?” Flayn questioned.

“You mean it ain’t always been like that?” Lysithea questioned.

“The last king stepped down a long time ago. His name was Jeralt Lorenz Gloucester-Eisner-”

“That’s a mouthful.”

“Stop interrupting, Lysithea! So anyway, when he stepped down, he established a system in which-”

“This is getting boring. Basically, we got provinces now,” Lysithea chimed in again. 

“I think I get it…” Flayn said, despite not understanding it at all.

“She doesn’t want to hear a history lesson right now. Let the poor girl settle down,” Lysithea chastised her brother. However, Bart ignored his sister and looked toward Flayn.

“I’m sorry. I get too… excited about these things. Do you need anything?” Bart asked, genuine concern on his face now.

“I’m fine. But, how do you know all of this?” Flayn asked. The way the man could talk like he was there unsettled her. 

“Well, there are many accounts of the war and the years afterward. I think almost everyone involved who lived wrote something about it. But, a lot of this information comes from Eisner,” Bart explained.

“Eisner?” 

“Many of the records from that time were collected by the famed historian Eisner. It’s assumed there’s many since the historian has been putting information together for so long. ,” Bart said, taking out one of his books.

“This is just one book in a series that holds historic records from the time of the war,” he said, proudly showing off the fancy cover. It was a nice shade of purple, the writing on the front a beautiful cursive. Flayn took the book from him and examined it. Upon opening it to a random page, she recognized the handwriting left on the page. While she couldn’t pin it down to a specific person, she knew she had seen it before.   
“I have to talk to this Eisner,” Flayn said, attempting to stand up. She was soon pulled back by the siblings who sat her back down.

“Wait now! Ya ain’t got proper clothing. At least let me take you out shopping before ya do it,” Lysithea said in an attempt to calm Flayn down. Flayn had not realized how serious she had looked getting up, but the siblings worried for her. 

“Besides that, Eisner lives in the Red Canyon! That’s a long way from here and dangerous,” he said, panic evident in his voice. 

“I won’t leave now since I’m admittedly feeling too tired, but I must go,” Flayn stated.

The siblings looked at each other, trying to make sense of this. However, Lysithea wasn’t one for thinking things through.

“Then I’m coming. We can find more help on the way there, but you’re our responsibility now,” Lysithea said excitedly, already planning the trip.

“But! But, we can’t just leave! As much as I’d like to help, we aren’t fit for such a journey!” Bart started panicking watching his sister and Flayn give each other knowing looks.

“But Barty! We’re on vacation anyway! I’ll just tell Pops we’re going to help Flayn get back home, and then we can help her. Or, you can stay here and wonder what happens to us,” Lysithea smugly said, knowing what her brother would do.

“Well! I! Oh, fine! I’m coming with you! But who knows what we’ll find!” Bart yelled. 

Flayn was happy knowing she had some company. However, she wondered who this Eisner was. Her best guess was Lady Rhea, which, if it was her, would be most satisfying. She would know where Seteth was, after all. Of course, it could also be Byleth herself. Flayn assumed that she would also know where Seteth was. However, Flayn also had to remember that it could not be either of those two, and that person may not even know where Seteth is. 

While she felt sadness and confusion deep down, the sight of the two siblings made her happy. She felt safe with the two, watching them bicker as they came up with a game plan. She didn’t know how, but it gave her hope that she’d find answers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> its time to go on a wacky adventure

**Author's Note:**

> Oh boy here we go Sam is putting more on her plate.


End file.
